Xela's Garden
Mistletoe
Genus: Viscum.
Species: Viscum album.
Mistletoe on an old tree
Mistletoe
Kissing under the mistletoe is a well-known Christmas tradition, and magic and mystery have surrounded this evergreen plant throughout history.
Varieties:
Viscum album is the most common mistletoe in Europe and can be found in southern England and Wales.
It's a parasitic evergreen shrub that grows high in the branches of old trees and extracts essential nutrients and water by sending roots into the bark. The most popular host is the apple tree, although it can also be found on lime, ash, hawthorn and other trees with soft bark.
With the gradual decline of the apple industry in England, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find home-grown mistletoe. Most shop-brought mistletoe comes from Brittany or Normandy.
Mistletoe myths
Druids believed mistletoe growing on oak trees was the most sacred form of the plant and that it offered protection from all evil, as well as being the source of much magic. The early Christian church banned the use of mistletoe because of its association with Druids.
The mystery of the mistletoe's method of reproduction led many people to link the plant with spontaneous generation, fertility and aphrodisiacs. In medieval times, women wishing to conceive would wrap mistletoe around their waists and wrists to increase fertility.
Traditionally in Scandinavia, if enemies met under mistletoe they would lay down their weapons and not fight until the following day.
According to Scandinavian legend, the god Balder the Beautiful was killed by a spear of mistletoe and his grieving mother Frigg, the goddess of love and beauty, banished the plant to the top of trees. When Balder came back to life, Frigg made mistletoe a symbol of love.
In Brittany the plant is known as Herbe de la Croix because it is thought that Christ's cross was made of mistletoe wood.
How it reproduces
The plant reproduces itself naturally with the assistance of birds. Birds, such as the missel thrush, eat the berries. Their droppings, which contain the seeds, land on a tree's bark and germinate.
Sometimes the sticky, viscous flesh containing the seed sticks to the bird's beak. The bird wipes it off by rubbing its beak against the bark of a neighbouring tree. The seed sticks to the bark and starts to grow.
Growing tips
The best time to propagate mistletoe is from March to April when the seed is fully ripe. Choose a seed that's intact and hasn't split.
If possible, select a host tree from the same species as the tree from which the mistletoe was harvested. Find a brand with a girth of more than 10cm, the higher the better as it will be more exposed to sunlight.
Remove the white fleshy coating from the seed. Make a shallow cut in the branch with a knife, insert the seed under a layer of bark and secure the bark with twine. Cover the seed with material such as hessian to protect it from birds.
It's advisable to propagate more than one seed, as mistletoe requires male and female plants to produce berries. The success rate of germination is also quite low, with only one in ten seeds becoming a plant.
If the plant is female, it should take about five years to produce berries.
